Tattoos - an overview

Tattoos are becoming increasingly common. Did you know that:

•       Tattoos can be accidental or deliberate, permanent or temporary,

•       professional or amateur, cosmetic, decorative or medical, or invisible.

•       Amateur tattoos are more superficial and easier to remove.

•       Cosmetic tattoos are used to enhance the appearance of body parts, resemble make-up or mask deformities e.g. permanent make-up, tattoos over surgical scars and nipple tattoos after a mastectomy.

•       Invisible tattoos are only visible when they glow under UV light.

•       The following world leaders are or were tattooed: Winston Churchill and his mother, Tsar Nicholas II, King George V, Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, and current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

•       More than 100 million Europeans have tattoos.

•       More recent data shows that tattoos are obtained by individuals with higher levels of education to remember a loved one or purely for enjoyment.

•       In Germany a tattooed individual has the mean age of 35 years, most are females, employed and with no history of drug or alcohol abuse.

•       Motivation for tattooing include religion, personal symbolism, expression of shared values within a subculture, quest for individuality, enhancing attractiveness, rebellion, fashion, using the body as a canvas for art, peer pressure and impulsive tattooing under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

•       Complications of tattoos include infections, allergic reactions (mainly to red dye), psychological and social complications and tattoo regret.

•       Tattoo regret is estimated to be between 14 and 17% in the general population.

•       Main reasons for wanting removal of tattoos are: complications as well as personal reasons like change in relationship status, religious reasons, past drug addiction or gang membership, dissatisfaction and boredom with the tattoo and desire for re-integration into society, particularly by rehabilitated prisoners and gang members. Professional reasons are becoming less common.

•       Tattoo removal is generally difficult and unsatisfactory depending on the size, location and depth. Methods of removal include abrasion with coarse salt, dermabrasion, surgery, laser and chemicals. See your dermatologist for the best method for each tattoo.

     Here is a link to an article we published on tattoos mainly directed at doctors but can be of interest to anyone who wants to know a bit more detail about tattoos. 

http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12420